Montenegro’s Korita wind farm has signed a connection agreement with the national transmission system operator CGES, but the planned 88 MW renewable-energy project remains without a construction permit after the first application was rejected by the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property.
The project, planned in the municipality of Bijelo Polje, has an estimated investment value of €132 million. The grid agreement represents a major step for the development, but the permitting process must still be completed before construction can begin.
Construction permit application rejected before grid agreement
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property rejected the construction permit application submitted by Vjetro park Korita DOO for the first phase of the wind farm. The decision was adopted on 18 June 2026 and signed by Minister Slaven Radunović.
The developer had submitted the construction permit application at the end of December 2025, with additional documentation provided in January and March 2026. The request covered the first phase of the project on land within the Korita cadastral municipality. The submitted documentation included the main design, a design-review report, property documentation, an extract from the digital cadastral plan, as well as approvals and opinions from relevant public institutions.
The application also contained a decision from the Environmental Protection Agency of Montenegro approving the environmental impact assessment for a wind facility with an installed capacity of 72.60 MW. The ministry concluded that the legal requirements for issuing the permit had not been met because CGES had not approved the main design. During the procedure, CGES informed the ministry that it could not provide approval for the wind farm infrastructure complex and planned 35/400 kV substation because the investor had not yet signed the transmission-network connection agreement.
CGES agreement signed five days after permit rejection
On 23 June 2026, five days after the permit rejection, CGES announced that it had signed a connection agreement with Vjetro park Korita DOO for the connection of an 88 MW wind farm to Montenegro’s transmission network.
The investment value was estimated at €132 million, representing approximately €1.5 million per installed megawatt. The agreement removes one of the outstanding obstacles in the development process but does not represent a construction authorisation. The developer must still resolve the permit procedure, either through a revised application or an administrative challenge before Montenegro’s Administrative Court.
The sequence of events highlights the dependence between grid approval, environmental documentation and construction permits. The construction authority required CGES approval of the main design, while CGES required a completed connection process before issuing that approval.
Capacity increase creates additional documentation requirements
The project configuration changed during development. CGES had previously prepared a connection analysis based on 72.60 MW, corresponding to the capacity covered by the environmental approval. In November 2025, the developer requested a new analysis after deciding to increase the planned capacity to 88 MW.
The revised design represents an increase of 15.40 MW, or approximately 21.2%, compared with the earlier project configuration. During the permit procedure, CGES stated that the updated connection analysis was still being prepared, preventing approval of the submitted technical documentation.
The different capacity figures now require alignment across the project documentation. The developer must demonstrate that the environmental assessment, spatial documentation, turbine layout, access infrastructure, internal electrical system, substation design and grid studies remain valid for the larger project configuration or obtain additional approvals.
The increased capacity may affect turbine specifications, foundation requirements, transport needs, noise and shadow-flicker assessments, bird and bat monitoring, landscape impact assessments, electrical losses and grid-operation parameters.
Financing depends on permitting and grid certainty
The planned 35/400 kV substation indicates that the Korita project is designed for direct connection to Montenegro’s highest-voltage transmission network. The project requires detailed grid-compliance studies covering voltage control, frequency response, fault ride-through, active-power regulation, protection coordination and SCADA communication with CGES.
The connection agreement will also need to define key project-financing conditions, including the connection point, construction-cost allocation, responsibility for transmission infrastructure, completion deadlines, financial guarantees, energisation conditions and procedures for delays.
With an estimated investment value of €132 million, Korita would require a structured financing package or significant sponsor capital. A potential financing structure could involve 65–75% senior debt, equivalent to approximately €86 million to €99 million, with the remaining amount provided through equity and subordinated capital. The final financing structure will depend on wind-resource performance, revenue arrangements, exposure to electricity-market prices, construction risks and the reliability of the grid-connection schedule.
Development timeline remains linked to 2030 target
The estimated investment intensity of €1.5 million per MW is consistent with a large onshore wind project, although mountainous terrain, road construction, turbine transport, geotechnical conditions and the high-voltage connection could increase costs. A delay of 12 to 18 months could raise development expenses through additional studies, extended supplier commitments, higher financing costs and changes in equipment prices, grid requirements or market conditions before the planned 2030 start of operations.
The ministry had previously notified Vjetro park Korita of concerns regarding the permit application on 24 March 2026. The company was given five days to submit a written response but did not provide observations within that period. Following the CGES connection agreement, the project now has a stronger basis for a renewed permit application. However, the complete documentation package must present a single consistent project configuration, including the 88 MW capacity, environmental approval, technical design, land documentation and grid studies.
The ministry’s decision does not prevent the construction of the Korita wind farm but indicates that the application was submitted before the updated grid-connection conditions and increased capacity had been fully incorporated into the technical documentation. The remaining development steps include completion of permitting, financing, turbine procurement, access-road and foundation works, construction of the 35/400 kV substation, CGES compliance testing and trial operation before commercial start-up.
